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Ex-NBA Player, Michigan Star Robert “Tractor” Traylor Dead at 34

Former Michigan Wolverines standout and NBA player Robert “Tractor” Traylor has died at the age of 34. His team in Puerto Rico, the Bayamon Cowboys, confirmed the news on their Facebook page. The presumed cause of death is a massive heart attack, though this has not yet been confirmed.

Traylor was the 6th overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks. In a move that has since gone down in league lore, the Michigan star was then traded for the rights to Pat Garrity and a then relatively-unknown German player by the name of Dirk Nowitzki.

Although he would become something of a beloved figure in the professional ranks, Traylor struggled to find his place in the league between his never-ending conditioning problems and a heart defect that would eventually require surgery in 2006.

After a failed attempt to make an NBA comeback, Traylor traveled overseas and enjoyed periodic success.

As a result of Traylor’s death, the Cowboys suspended their scheduled game for Wednesday.